BANG-UP JOB: RECYCLED PERCUSSION

If you check out Recycled Percussion on YouTube, it's impossible to avoid one conclusion: These guys are having fun.

The foursome specializes in found percussion instruments, turning everything from paint buckets to car parts and the occasional oxygen tank into a riotous explosion of sound. These pioneers of "junk rock" regularly pass out pots and pans and sticks to the audience so they can bang along too.

That can't happen when they have to fly from their Las Vegas home to venues such as the Mahaffey Theater this weekend. Fear not, the show will be even better because of it, said guitarist Matt Bowman,left.

"When we go on the road it's almost more fun," said Bowman, 37, who grew up wanting to be like Slash of Guns N' Roses. "The focus is on the talent and the audience interaction. It's not just a music and percussion show."

The result is an explosion of light and sound you kind of have to see to comprehend. When they're not playing six nights a week in Planet Hollywood or touring, Bowman and his fellow band members (Justin Spencer, Ryan Vezina and Jason Davies) like to scavenge through salvage yards for everything up to and including the kitchen sink. In concerts, they specialize in getting audiences to pick up the groove.

"I would liken it to a movie," Bowman said. "You get to come in for 80 minutes and be a kid again." 8 p.m. Friday. 400 First Street S, St. Petersburg. $29-$49. (727) 892-5798. themahaffey.com.

BEAM ME ABOARD: PIRATES OF PENZANCE

In retrospect, this was a match that had to happen. Freefall Theatre and the 19th-century team of librettist W.S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan were bound to cross paths, kindred spirits and all that.

Eric Davis, Freefall's producing artistic director, has adapted Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzanceto a spaceship. The result promises to be silly and whimsical and talent laden. The Pirate King, the modern Major General and his daughter Mabel must cope with time travelers, droids and more in a rock operetta that could only happen here.

The musical, with which Freefall closes out its season, stars Hayden Milanes as the Pirate King, resident company member Nick Lerew as Fredric, Kaylin Seckel as Mabel, Sara DelBeato as Ruth and Glenn Gover as the Modern Major General.

FLORIDA ORCHESTRA: LEGEND OF ZELDA

If, like me, you somehow got through life without knowing anything about The Legend of Zelda, the Florida Orchestra provides yet another educational opportunity. Tickets for the Dec. 16 concert at the Mahaffey Theater, The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses,go on sale Monday, and fans will likely be snapping them up. As part of an ongoing outreach to new audiences, the orchestra builds on its sold out concert last year featuring the game Final Fantasy. It comes decked out with classic repertoires and new scores synched up with a high-definition video. Amy Anderson directs. Feel free to come in costume. $25 and up. (727) 892-3337. floridaorchestra.org.

PAST IMPERFECT: NOW CIRCA THEN

Museum tour guides play an 1890s couple in Now Circa Then, opening this weekend at the Silver Meteor Gallery. In portraying characters from the past, the couple soon find that their banter with visitors and each other embodies a range of social issues, from feminism to class and the viability of the American Dream. Written by Cathy Mensch, starring Nick Hoop and Marlene Peralta, directed by Sean Ryan Paris. It opens at 8 p.m. Friday at the Silver Meteor Gallery, 2213 E Sixth Ave., Ybor City. It runs Fridays through Mondays through Aug. 22. $15, $12 students and seniors. (813) 330-3585.